


Crying

by RobinsonsWereHere



Series: Plant a Little Happiness (Let The Roots Run Deep) [7]
Category: Psych (TV 2006)
Genre: Crying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Father-Son Relationship, Food mention, Gen, Heart Attacks, Henry is a shit dad, Hospitals, Men Crying, Thanksgiving, Unhealthy Relationships, Whumptober, shawn is a good dad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:47:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26953102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RobinsonsWereHere/pseuds/RobinsonsWereHere
Summary: Thanksgiving 2027. The Spencer-O'Haras, Gusters, and Lassiters are gathered in Santa Barbara for Thanksgiving. It goes remarkably well until later that night.(Or, when Henry has a heart attack, Shawn struggles to reconcile himself to his troubled relationship with his father.)
Relationships: Burton "Gus" Guster & Shawn Spencer, Henry Spencer & Shawn Spencer, Juliet O'Hara/Shawn Spencer
Series: Plant a Little Happiness (Let The Roots Run Deep) [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1941595
Comments: 14
Kudos: 20
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	Crying

**Author's Note:**

> This was either gonna be a drabble with just the second half, or a big fic like this. I decided to go all the way and I really like it!

Shawn wraps an arm around Juliet, pulling her closer. The aftermath of Thanksgiving dinner is generally calm and content, but Shawn is always a little on edge when his dad is around the kids. He doesn’t know if he’s worried that Henry will do something wrong with his grandchildren, or try to tell Shawn _he’s_ the one messing up. But it’s a small price to pay for a big, extended family holiday.

“They’re getting so big,” Henry chuckles, watching the twins play at his feet. “I can’t believe I haven’t seen them since they turned one.”

“That was, like, five months ago, Dad,” Shawn points out.

“Fair point, but it was only the second time I’d even met them.”

Shawn bites his tongue, trying to steer the conversation in a different direction. “This is the first time they’ve actually gotten to eat the Thanksgiving food. I think they liked it.”

Henry laughs at that, but falls silent, which is absolutely fine with Shawn. He focuses on inhaling the scent of Juliet’s hair, on watching his kids, Alex and Ella on the floor nearby and Delilah building a block tower with Jaden. There’s football on TV, but he’s not sure who’s playing. Selene, Gus, and Marlowe are talking too loudly to hear the game.

He doesn’t mind.

Shawn is so close to a food coma that he doesn’t exactly have a sense for the passing of time, but the next interruption comes when Henry stands from his armchair and stretches, groaning. “Alright,” he grumbles. “I’m wiped. I think it’s time for me to head off to bed.”

Laughing, Shawn checks his watch. “Dad, it’s 7:30.”

“And?”

“You’re right, we should be getting the five-year-old to bed.”

Henry scoffs and shakes his head. “I’m too old for this.” He rubs at his arm and slowly moves out of the living room.

Not a minute later, they all hear a worrying thud from the hall by the stairs. 

Shawn frowns. “Dad?” he figures Henry has just knocked over a vase or something, but everyone else seems to think otherwise, because they’re quickly standing up.

He hears Lassie’s voice first. “Oh, hell! O’Hara, call an ambulance!”

“What?” Juliet hurries through the doorway. 

“No, nevermind, I’ll get dispatch on the phone straight.”

Even before Lassie’s done speaking, Shawn hears his wife’s gasp. And she’s saying something to Marlowe, who’s ushering the kids out of the room, Lily leading them into the kitchen…

Something is wrong.

When Shawn finally makes it to the doorway, he can’t quite process what he’s seeing. Gus is running up the stairs yelling about aspirin. Lassie is barking into the phone in a very familiar way. Jules is kneeling on the ground, her fingers pressed against…

His dad is unconscious on the floor.

Shawn can’t believe that’s not the first thing he noticed, because _his dad is unconscious on the floor._

“Ambulance is on it’s way,” Lassie barks. “Fewer than five minutes out.”

“He’s got a pulse, but it’s weak,” Juliet reports. 

Gus comes thundering down the stairs. “Aspirin! I crushed it up, all we need to do is let it soak in under his tongue, it doesn’t matter if he’s conscious…”

“I’ll do that.” Juliet jerks her chin back toward the living room doorway. “You help Shawn.”

Shawn blinks as he realizes she’s talking about him. Why? He doesn’t need help. He’s more worried about his dad… who’s still just lying there, he hasn’t gotten up…

“C’mon, Shawn.” He doesn’t notice Gus until he speaks, laying a hand on Shawn’s shoulder. “Let’s get you a glass of water.”

Shawn feels like he’s rooted to the spot. “Dad…”

“He’s gonna be fine, Shawn, Lassiter called the ambulance. Come on. You should sit down.”

“I…” Shawn follows Gus numbly, at a loss for anything else to do. “What… what just happened?”

“He’s having a heart attack,” Gus says softly, filling a glass of water from the tap. “Drink this.”

Shawn sips obediently. “Heart-- heart attacks are serious, though. You need to get the person to the hospital right away.”

“The ambulance will be here soon,” Gus assures him. Just as he finishes his sentence, they hear sirens wailing up the street.

\---

Shawn doesn’t remember much of the drive to the hospital.

Actually, he doesn’t remember it at all.

He doesn’t even remember getting to the hospital. He remembers hurrying from the kitchen, Gus on his heels, and then leaning against the wall in the hospital hallway, struggling to breathe.

His dad has had a heart attack. This is bad. Hell, it could even be worse than him getting shot. Henry is seventy-six and the average human lifespan is seventy-nine and holy hell, Shawn could be about to lose his dad when he still has so much to make up for.

Wait.

_What do I have to make up to him?_ Shawn thinks. _Refusing to let him move to San Francisco when Delilah was born? After he spent a week telling me I sucked at parenting? Not letting him meet the twins right away when they were in the NICU and Jules and I were barely holding on? Putting some distance between us so I could be fully happy and confident in my life for once?_

He lets out a choked noise akin to a sob. _He’s the one who needs to apologize,_ he thinks. _Why am I feeling guilty when he’s the one who constantly told me I wasn’t good enough? Why am I so desperate to fix everything he broke? Why couldn’t we just have a healthy relationship in the first place?_

His struggles to breathe have turned to soundless, shaking sobs. He doesn’t know how his legs are holding him up. He doesn’t know anything, right now.

“Shawn… hey, babe, oh, I’m so sorry…”

When Juliet joins him, her eyes wide and worried and her cheeks stained with tears, Shawn all but collapses. He wraps his arms over her shoulders and buries his face in her neck, trying to get rid of every feeling he has about his dad with the tears finally pouring from his eyes. “I hate him,” he manages.

“No, Shawn…”

“I hate him for putting me through this,” he says, choked. “I hate him for making _me_ be the one to decide. Because it was so easy to push him away and say that was what I needed, and it _was,_ it _is,_ but now-- if I lose him--

“He’ll be just fine, Shawn,” Juliet murmurs. “This is Henry. He’s strong.”

“But what if he doesn’t make it, Jules?” Shawn slowly manages to support his own weight, but keeps his head ducked. “I don’t hate him… I don’t know if I love him… but we’re not done yet. He might’ve-- I might’ve broken everything beyond repair, but I…” He sucks in a shaky breath. “I want to say goodbye.”

“You’ll get to,” she tells him. “It’s not gonna be tonight. He’s gonna make it out of this. And someday when he’s old and senile and doesn’t remember ever fighting with you, you’ll say goodbye.”

Finally, Shawn lifts his head to look his wife in the eye. “Is it bad that I don’t regret it?”

Juliet’s nose scrunches a bit. “Regret what?”

“Pushing him away,” he whispers. “I… nothing would be like it is if I’d let him keep barging into my life. The kids, work, everything… we were never going to be the father and son who were side by side our whole lives. I think he thought we might get that. He thought he’d fixed every way he hurt me. But he hasn’t. So I can’t regret being happy.”

She reaches up to cup his face. “He wants you to be happy, Shawn,” she insists. “But you’re right. Letting him in like he wanted wouldn’t have made you happy. It would’ve made everything worse.” She wraps him in a tight hug. “Come on. Now is not the time to worry about everything you’ve ever said to each other, but I know it feels like it is. Come sit down. Take a deep breath.” She leans back and squeezes his hands. “He’ll be okay.” 

Shawn nods, slowly finding the ability to move again. He wraps an arm over Juliet’s shoulder as they walk. “Yeah, you’re right,” he murmurs, resisting the urge to let his eyes close. “He has to be.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Feel free to leave a comment or kudos, or talk to me on tumblr at bijulesspookyohara !


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